After the OBLIVIANS split ways to focus on their various projects (GONER RECORDS, REIGNING SOUND, JACK-O AND THE TENNESSEE TEARJERKERS to name a few of the many), ERIC FRIEDL was keeping his eyes out for his next raucous rock n roll
adventure. Luckily for him (and us), JAMES ARTHUR of FIREWORKS and NECESSARY EVILS fame decided to move to Eric's homewtown of Memphis, the
erstwhile capital city of rock n roll, blues and southern soul. Then looking to round out the new band, Eric
and James probably found FORREST HEWES (of the recently disbanded NECKBONES) at a some local dive bar and the rest is history as they
say.
THE LEGS gigged around town, gained a legendary status in an
already notoriously rambunctious Memphis scene, recorded a few drunken
demos, and then sadly vanished. Probably the hangovers were too much to
handle. Or that bands this explosive can not last very long....But
after all these years, Eric Oblivian decided to dig the tapes out of his
closet and finally give AAAA THE NEW MEMPHIS LEGS a proper release (as well
as reuniting The Legs one last time for Goner Fest this year)......I wasn't in Memphis to see the Legs in full force during their heyday, so you'll have to get the back story from GONER -
"Blood and beer-encrusted recordings from the epochal year 2000: Once mammoth Texas guitar noisemaker James Arthur moved from Los Angeles to Memphis and began hanging out with local roustabout Eric “Oblivian” Friedl, The Legs were inevitable. The two filled their days drinking whiskey and beer, searching for pinball machines, riding mountain bikes through broken glass and rabid-dog-filled uncharted alleys, and enjoying spontaneous dance parties which mostly consisted of wearing out copies of the “Quick Joey Small” 45. When they could be bothered to actually play music, they jammed away on a chord or three. They thought they might be onto something, but couldn’t really tell what it was. Bassists were not consulted. All this time, drummer Forrest Hewes of Oxford, Mississippi’s Neckbones was quietly living a few blocks away from Friedl; once his massive drums were planted behind their wall of scuzz, The Legs knew they had truly arrived. With a setlist of Australian garage thudders from the Ugly Things compilation, a mutant two-chord Doug Sahm song and simple, intense originals, The Legs were a short-lived, yet highly entertaining Memphis club favorite, playing alongside Reatards, Jeffrey Evans and other Memphis talents of the time. There were two recording sessions—one captured by Jeffrey Evans with Jay Reatard on organ that yielded the track “I’ve Been Raped (By the Pinball Machine)” for a Pinball song compilation, and the other done in Jody Hill’s living room, which is issued here in its entirety."
"Blood and beer-encrusted recordings from the epochal year 2000: Once mammoth Texas guitar noisemaker James Arthur moved from Los Angeles to Memphis and began hanging out with local roustabout Eric “Oblivian” Friedl, The Legs were inevitable. The two filled their days drinking whiskey and beer, searching for pinball machines, riding mountain bikes through broken glass and rabid-dog-filled uncharted alleys, and enjoying spontaneous dance parties which mostly consisted of wearing out copies of the “Quick Joey Small” 45. When they could be bothered to actually play music, they jammed away on a chord or three. They thought they might be onto something, but couldn’t really tell what it was. Bassists were not consulted. All this time, drummer Forrest Hewes of Oxford, Mississippi’s Neckbones was quietly living a few blocks away from Friedl; once his massive drums were planted behind their wall of scuzz, The Legs knew they had truly arrived. With a setlist of Australian garage thudders from the Ugly Things compilation, a mutant two-chord Doug Sahm song and simple, intense originals, The Legs were a short-lived, yet highly entertaining Memphis club favorite, playing alongside Reatards, Jeffrey Evans and other Memphis talents of the time. There were two recording sessions—one captured by Jeffrey Evans with Jay Reatard on organ that yielded the track “I’ve Been Raped (By the Pinball Machine)” for a Pinball song compilation, and the other done in Jody Hill’s living room, which is issued here in its entirety."
Fans of sweaty drunk garage damaged punk will ABSOLUTELY NEED "AAAA THE NEW MEMPHIS LEGS." No LP this year has sounded so dirty loud and raw as this freshly pressed slab of rock n roll from Goner (a record label btw that's always worth keeping tabs on)....
Those in need of an
Oblivians, Reatards or 68 Comeback fix, this is gonna stay on your
turntable for quite some time. Even better than that BAD TIMES lp and just
as wild as those classic GORIES records, The New Memphis Legs is the
high octane blast of rock n roll you need RIGHT NOW.
HIGHLY AND LOUDLY
RECOMMENDED.
Records this fun don't come out every week.
LISTEN TO THE FIRST TWO TRACKS
OFF THE NEW LP BELOW.....
AND WATCH THE REUNITED LEGS PLAY
GONER FEST THIS YEAR......
